Predictors of Medication Errors Among Elderly Hospitalized Patients

Abstract

Medication errors are a serious safety concern and most errors are preventable. A retrospective study design was employed to describe medication errors experienced during 10187 hospitalizations of elderly patients admitted to a Midwest teaching hospital between July 1, 1998 and December 31, 2001 and to determine the factors predictive of medication errors. The model considered patient characteristics, clinical conditions, interventions, and nursing unit characteristics. The dependent variable, medication error, was measured using a voluntary incident reporting system. There were 861 medication errors; 96% may have been preventable. Most errors were omissions errors (48.8%) and the source was administration (54%) or transcription errors (38%). Variables associated with a medication error included unique number of medications (polypharmacy), patient gender and race, RN staffing changes, medical and nursing interventions, and specific pharmacological agents. Further validation of this explanatory model and focused interventions may help decrease the incidence of medication errors.

Medication safety in neonatal care: a review of medication errors among neonates

“…The median age of elderly participants ranged from 68 to 84 years of age [Picone et al 2008;Ben-Yehuda et al 2011;Buck et al 2013;García-Aparicio and HerreroHerrero, 2013;Ernawati et al 2014]. Medication errors in the prescribing phase had a range of 1.6-46% of the total reported errors [Picone et al 2008;Ben-Yehuda et al 2011;Ernawati et al 2014].…”

“…Among the 10 articles reviewed, medication errors were most commonly identified through prospective observational studies, and retrospective review of charts and incident reports [Briggs, 2006;Picone et al 2008;Ben-Yehuda et al 2011;Henri et al 2012;Maher and Hajjar, 2012;Zakharov et al 2012;Buck et al 2013;García-Aparicio and Herrero-Herrero, 2013;Ernawati et al 2014;Metsälä and Vaherkoski, 2014]. The median age of elderly participants ranged from 68 to 84 years of age [Picone et al 2008;Ben-Yehuda et al 2011;Buck et al 2013;García-Aparicio and HerreroHerrero, 2013;Ernawati et al 2014].…”

Administração De Medicamentos – Carga De Trabalho Da Equipe De Enfermagem Em Unidade De Internação Clínica

“…Dentre os motivos de hospitalização neste grupo de pacientes, estavam os distúrbios do sistema circulatório 2903 (28,5%) e as neoplasias 1406 (13,8%). Além disso, como fatores preditivos de falhas neste processo de medicação, os autores apontaram o tipo de fármacos e o número total de medicamentos que os pacientes recebem durante a internação (polifarmácia) (18) . Verificou-se que o número médio de medicamentos prescritos nas escalas de trabalho dos técnicos foi de 60,45 (dp = 20,26), sendo 9,26 (dp = 2,46) o número médio de doses prescritas por paciente.…”

Identifying Vulnerable Patients at Heightened Risk for Medical Error

“…Hispanic patients had the lowest risk of all groups. 41 In another study, 42 sex and race were independently significant for medication error.…”